'Out of control': Tenerife wildfires force evacuations of villages

A major wildfire in Tenerife has led to the evacuation of five villages, credit @CABILDOTENERIFE

Firefighters have struggled to contain a wildfire that has broken out in a mountainous national park on the Spanish island of Tenerife.

A least five villages have had to be evacuated as a result of a blaze that has spread at least 1,800 hectares in 24 hours.

Some 7,600 residents from the villages of Arrate, Chivisaya, Media Montana, Ajafona and Las Lagunetas were moved on as a precaution because of thick smoke.

Local authorities have also cut off the access to roads leading to the mountains on the northeastern part of the island.

It is understood around 250 firefighters, with the help of 13 helicopters and planes, worked to contain the fire in difficult to reach areas.

The head of the regional government, Fernando Clavijo said the fire "is out of control" and the situation "is not exactly very positive" at a news conference in Tenerife on Wednesday evening.

He stated the emergency services goal is to stop the fires gaining ground and scorching more of the island.

“This is probably the most complicated blaze we have had on the Canary Islands, if not ever, at least in the last 40 years,” Clavijo told reporters.

Extreme temperatures in the island, he said, added to “specific meteorological conditions” caused by the fire that turned the area into a virtual oven.

Tenerife is one of Spain's tourist hotspots. The Tenerife Tourism office stressed in a statement Thursday afternoon that the main tourist areas and cities of the island are away from the fire.

Business continues as usual in accommodation establishments, beaches and other tourist sites located in areas near the coast and in the midlands, the office said.

The fires come after the Canary Islands were hit with a heatwave, leaving areas bone dry, increasing the risk of wildfires.

Temperatures in the Canary Islands peaked at more than 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in recent days. Temperatures are set to rise again on Saturday.

The fire could become Spain’s worst blaze so far this summer, as the country suffers another year of severe drought.

More than 2,000 people were evacuated in a wildfire on the nearby island of La Palma last month that affected some 4,500 hectares (11,000 acres).

Wildfires have burned almost 64,000 hectares (158,000 acres) in Spain in the first seven months of the year, according to Spanish government data. That's the third highest figure in the last decade.

Spain accounted for almost 40% of the nearly 800,00 hectares (2 million acres) burned in the European Union in 2022, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.

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